Refugees fleeing the besieged city of Luhansk in east Ukraine were burnt to
death when their bus convoy was ambushed and struck by rocket fire today.

“Many people were killed, among them women and children,” said Andriy Lysenko,
a spokesman for Ukraine’s national security council.

He put the death toll at “dozens” and accused pro-Russian forces of mounting
the attack. “The rebels were expecting the convoy and destroyed it entirely.”

This was denied by Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed
Donetsk People’s Republic, where the death sentence was introduced yesterday
for “serious” offences including treason, spying, assassination attempts